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Resistance of a Copper Wire (Physics Coursework - Written only) - page 1
Keywords: copper wire resistance gcse coursework physics
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 1 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6==============================================
SKILL AREA P: Planning Experimental Procedures
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The Problem:
What do you want to find out from this investigation?
In this investigation, I plan to discover how the length of a piece of wire affects its level of resistance.
Background Knowledge:
What scientific knowledge do you have which might be useful in planning our investigation?
Electricity is one of the most useful forms of energy to exist. The currents that flow through any metal are flows of electrical charge, and these charges are carried by the delocalised electrons that are contained in a metal. These electrons are bound to an atom until they are able to gain enough energy to break away from the pull. When a current passes through a metal and this energy is collected, the electrons begin to travel freely throughout the material as they are not strictly bonded to an atom. The rapid movement of the electrons triggers consistent collisions between both delocalised and fized electrons. As these collide, the energy is continuously passed on. The higher the number of collisions, the greater the resistance of the wire. This is the reason why metals prove to be such successful conductors.
A current is the flow of charge in a material, and depends ultimately on the velocity of travelling electrons; as more electrons are moving per second, the current experiences an increase. We use an ammeter to measure current and record it in terms of Amps (A). Any current can be sub-categorized as one of two kinds – an Electrical Current, or a Conventional Current. These are oppositional in that an Electrical Current is the flow of electrons from a negative terminal to a positive terminal, whereas the Conventional Current is the flow from positive to negative.
The voltage is simply the energy exerted by a battery, and is applied to the charge as it passes through the circuit. We measure this using a voltmeter, and record it in Volts (V). As well as ‘voltage’, this can be referred to as the ‘potential difference’.
Resistance in a circuit is anything that resists the flow of the current. When delocalised electrons collide with electrons that are fixed, an amount of energy is lost and as a result, the current is slowed. This is an example of resistance. Measured using an ohmmeter, we express resistance in Ohms (Ω). In order to accurately record the resistance of any material, we need to repeat out experiment in each case. This means testing
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